


The Final Pieces of the Puzzle

by Ipodsandstars



Series: Mistakes and Shattered Hopes [8]
Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Awesome Darcy Lewis, BAMF Darcy Lewis, Darcy Feels, Darcy Lewis-centric, Darcy is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Darcyland, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Love, Multi, Past, Past Relationship(s), Protective Maria Hill, SHIELD, SHIELD Agent Darcy Lewis, SHIP DARCY WITH ALL THE THINGS, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Tony Has Issues, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 12:12:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2191377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ipodsandstars/pseuds/Ipodsandstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Out of the public eye for a few days, Darcy begins to realise things are becoming more suspicious with Tony and Phil, so she decides it’s time to start investigating…</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Final Pieces of the Puzzle

**The Final Pieces of the Puzzle  
Summary: Out of the public eye for a few days, Darcy begins to realise things are becoming more suspicious with Tony and Phil, so she decides it’s time to start investigating…**

What would you do if people you loved were acting suspicious? What would you do if you knew, all the clues were there and you just had to put the pieces together like one big giant puzzle? What would you do if the centrepiece was you?  
Literally and figuratively, that was basically Darcy’s life right now. Everything seemed to be based around her and she was starting to realise that. It wasn't her fault but Darcy was starting to act like this was all happening because of her – when in reality, it was because Bruce had hurt her.  
Darcy had decided for the best that she should stay in her apartment until the wild press died down. They didn’t know where she lived or where her apartment was, thank god but every time she turned on the news, it was always focusing upon the Avengers and what had happened.  
She kept seeing video clips of herself talking to the Hulk being played over and over again and then it kept changing from different video clips of Tony and then he gave one final interview on the matter and told the press to just settle down and leave the Avengers to deal with things like they always did. Stark talked about how things were going to be sorted - how they all had a plan. Well, the plan was mostly his and he talked about how things had just escalated lately with problems and personal problems within the walls of the tower and…  
Darcy looked at the TV. Stark had a plan. Tony Stark had said he had a ‘plan’.

Darcy slowly reached over for the TV remote and paused the news, she waited for the silence and then tried to process what Tony had said.  
‘Plans’, plans were one thing Tony Stark was good at making but at the same time he could easily break them. Tony said he had a plan but everything Tony had said; everything the news showed was just suspicious. Tony was being suspicious, that’s what everyone was saying but most people just said it was ‘Stark being Stark’.  
Tony was being suspicious, there was no way of fooling Darcy and she wasn't stupid.

Darcy could move around more freely now because under agents’ supervision, they escorted her to the hospital in case any paparazzi recognised her from the news. She had her cast taken off her hand because her broken wrist was okay now and they escorted her back to the apartment no problem. Only one agent stayed with Darcy at the apartment which Darcy was okay with because all of the press were focused on Tony and still were, they wouldn't stop!

She wasn't important and yet the press kept asking Tony who Darcy was, where she had gone and why she had made Hulk cry.  
She had also received a package from Betty, which she put straight in the bin because it was a ridiculous way to say ‘sorry’. She knew Betty didn’t really give a fuck about what she had been apart of – she was happy now she had her man.  
Darcy’s mind was reeling, she always had an agent with her that always wanted to be with her and never leave her side and she was okay with that, she loved it. But what if they were there to try and shield her from the truth? In a crappy attempt to make Darcy feel like everything was fine, they'd tried to do this.  
Did Coulson really think she was stupid?  
She had to admit, everything and everyone was going crazy the past couple of weeks so she sort of understood what Coulson or Tony had been trying to achieve by distracting her because everyone else was more caught up in berating Betty and Bruce who honestly acted like they didn’t give a shit and didn’t fully understand what they'd done when Darcy knew they should damn well know what they'd done.  
‘The agent’? Maria Hill. When Maria wasn't trying to be killed by HYDRA agents trying to seek them all out and kill them, she was with Darcy Lewis She had secrets too and was so protective of Darcy who suspected she knew what was going on and Maria knew Darcy wasn't stupid.

Darcy shook her head. She suspected Maria was in love with her but she didn’t have time to investigate that, she had too many thoughts running through her head – Tony and Phil had been acting up ever since Bruce started to cheat on her and Phil was more discrete about his changes. He worked behind the scenes so he knew acting was part of an agent’s job. That was her job too and Phil had a lot of experience. Stark just knew how to fuck shit up so he was the more obviously suspicious with his body language. It was rather odd because it all seemed to be some sort of puzzle and Darcy had to figure out the final pieces and put them together. Surely others could see it too; could see things were becoming more and more suspicious.  
Darcy had to wonder what the plan was. Clint had to be the clue… Clint WAS a clue but why? Why would….  
It began making sense to her; Darcy reached for a notepad and began to jot down her ideas – drawing diagrams of what she knew and what had been going on. When she talked it over with herself as she went along while furiously scribbling and using many pages of the notepad, she also began talking to Maria who listened with a small smile on her face and even when she looked for confirmation and Maria wouldn’t give anything away, Darcy knew she was getting close.

Darcy still kept muttering to herself as she tried to process everything that had happened and her thoughts on the matter. Everything was happening so quickly – she’d been working on getting better and getting over Bruce and now it seemed she was the start of something bigger. Just her luck that she’d be a part of a plan and she’d notice things other people didn’t seem to, it was just her luck the entire plan revolved around her but Darcy just couldn't understand some of it.  
What was Phil planning? Tony had been acting suspiciously and so did Phil, she knew the entire plan started with her and revolved around her but what else was there? Maria had been assigned to watch over her but maybe the plan hadn’t gone too far yet, maybe the news being there had been part of the plan on the day…Darcy began to have a faint idea the news report was some part of the plan – she knew Hulk refusing to shrink down was not part of whatever plan there was, so it was obvious they had to improvise because Clint wasn't there when Darcy had got there. They had brought Darcy in as the improvisation.

Tony was acting like it was all good on their end so not much could have gone wrong or it may have gone better and just thinking of poor Hulk made Darcy want to cry.

The sad thing about being a SHIELD agent was that nobody said anything about feelings in the process. In their line of work, relationships and romance were prohibited but nobody really believed that rule anymore – just about everyone had broken the damn rule and Darcy had begun to wish that she hadn’t. The rule was put in place because of the fact love could interfere with the missions, love could alter decisions and make people reckless and so it was put in place. To some it may seem hilarious that the situation now, was basically why the rule was put in place.  
Darcy had broken the rule with Bruce and the Other Guy and now she wish she hadn't so maybe; just maybe the whole situation could have played out different. Nobody could have been hurt and they could be loved up to their hearts content and not give a damn about anything else. Darcy had been the start of the whole situation and she blamed herself, even when Maria said that she shouldn’t.  
Maria had turned off the TV so Darcy could concentrate. Everyone had now broken protocol because of one man’s actions. One of the main rules of SHIELD was to focus on the mission and not let any distractions get in the way, not let personal matters and feelings get in the way and that had been broken.  
But for Director Phil Coulson to break this rule himself, Darcy knew that whatever the man had planned, he would see it through to the end.  
She had seen first hand, just how cruel Phil could be when you pissed him off. He was only human and everyone made mistakes… Everyone had feelings and Darcy knew this was one of the reasons why Maria wouldn't tell her anything.

Darcy knew Maria had feelings for her and she wanted to return them but Darcy had promised herself she wouldn’t fall in love again – they were living the consequences of her last relationship and her only relationship. Nobody had ever wanted to bear near Darcy because she was a freak, because she was different and that was where Bruce and Darcy got along… Now Darcy had lost almost everything and if she returned Maria’s feelings, she knew if things didn’t work out that she wouldn't just be losing her lover; but a best friend too. Just like Bruce had been.

She kept saying the same things over and over again as she tried to take her mind off the fact she was falling in love again; the fact that she knew she’d always loved Maria but she had been with Bruce and he’d been such an asshole to her.  
She deserved someone better. Maria was just that but… but she couldn’t. Darcy didn’t want to hurt her; Darcy didn’t want to lose Maria if something went wrong.

Stark said he had a ‘plan’. He said he had a plan on the news so Darcy assumed Phil had told him to say that and nothing else to try and get the press to shut up. Darcy knew that the two men had been in constant contact with each other over the phones lately and Darcy remembered that when Jane was with her, they had both rung at the same time to warn them about HYDRA so that could have also been a big hint about what was going on.  
Maria stated that Darcy was onto something but she wouldn’t say anything else and Darcy sat down against the wall, tears falling down her cheeks again.  
She knew the plan started off with her and then it had something to do with Clint so he must have been used as a sort of start to the plan, he was like an explosive because of how protective he was over Darcy and how much everyone loved her like a little sister. She didn’t deserve any of this and Clint was angry at Bruce so he would have easily snapped and that’s what they wanted so they knew it would work.  
Tony had all the answers, she had to find out from Tony and she wiped away her tears as she looked at Maria, then the bell of the apartment began to ring. Then, came a knock and it was just her luck it was someone she wanted to see – he'd come to see her and make sure she was okay.

“Darcy?” he whined “Let me in. your favourite billionaire is getting cold out here.”  
Maria froze and watched as Darcy slowly got up; walking over to the door and flinging it open before angrily slamming it after pulling Tony inside.  
Darcy looked at Tony.  
“Tell me everything, now.”


End file.
